Arutmin coal sales up 39% in 9-month 2003

Publicly listed company PT Bumi Resources Tbk reported Wednesday coal sales through its subsidiary PT Arutmin Indonesia had increased by 39 percent to 9.9 million tons in the first nine-month of 2003 from 7.3 million tons in the same period last year.

In its quarterly report, Bumi Resources said the increase of coal sales was nearly offset by the decline in global coal prices from an average actual FOB sales price of US$27.05 /ton in the nine months 2002 to US$23.42/ton in the same period 2003.

The report said that Arutmin?s coal production in the nine months 2003 reached 9.78 million tons, 31.5 percent increase from 7.44 million tons in the same period last year due to the production increase from Satui, Senakin and Ata-Mereh mine sites in South Kalimantan.

Arutmin?s unit cash cost of production for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2003 increased by 10.3 percent to US$17.1 per ton from US$15.5 per ton in the same period last year due to the increased fuel prices in the international market and mining costs, the report added.

Arutmin, one of Indonesia?s top coal producers, produced 10.6 million tons of coal in 2002. The company is 80 percent owned by Bumi Resources, which also controls East Kalimantan coal miner PT Kaltim Prima Coal. (robert)